Chapter 4 - The Shadow of Sterling
The transition from Highlandtown to Cathedral Street was dizzying.
Within forty-eight hours, Caleb had gone from sharing a pullout couch in a drafty apartment to having a bedroom large enough to play soccer in, complete with a massive bookshelf stocked with adventure novels and a brand-new desk. But while Caleb adjusted with the elastic resilience of a nine-year-old, Nora felt like an interloper in a museum.
The triplex was a masterclass in minimalist luxury—exposed brick walls, polished concrete floors, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city skyline.
Yet, on Wednesday evening, Roman found her sitting on the floor of the expansive stainless-steel kitchen, her knees pulled to her chest, staring blankly at a copper saucepan.
He didn't knock. The biometric lock recognized his fingerprint automatically.
“You’re missing a spatula,” Nora said without looking up as his footsteps echoed on the concrete floor.
Roman stopped a few feet away, dropping his heavy overcoat over the back of a leather barstool. He loosened his silk tie, tossing it onto the kitchen island. “There are twelve spatulas in that drawer, Nora. I inventoried the kitchen myself.”
“Not like the old one,” she murmured. Her voice sounded tired, carrying the weight of the last six days. “The old one had a wooden handle that was worn down right where my thumb rests. It felt like... mine.”
Roman walked over, crouched down beside her on the floor, and looked at her profile. The bruises on her wrists were fading from purple to a dull yellow, but the emotional exhaustion lingered behind her eyes like fog over the harbor.
“You’re thinking about Evelyn,” he said.
It wasn't a question.
Nora turned her head to look at him. Their faces were only inches apart. She could see the faint stubble along his jaw, the tiny white scar near his temple, and the intense, undivided focus he was giving her—a focus that used to belong exclusively to rival bosses and federal indictments.
“She’s still in the city, isn't she?” Nora asked.
“She missed her flight to London,” Roman admitted, his jaw tightening. “Her father—Charles Sterling—has spent the last forty-eight hours calling every judge, city councilman, and police captain on my payroll trying to broker a meeting.”
Nora’s breath hitched. “Charles Sterling controls half the shipping terminals on the East Coast. If you cut him off—”
“I didn't just cut him off,” Roman interrupted, his voice cold as winter ice. “I bought his primary logistics firm out from under him at three o'clock this afternoon. By Monday morning, his company will be a subsidiary of Calder Holdings, and he will be retiring to a very small, very cheap condo in Boca Raton.”
Nora stared at him, the sheer scale of his power dawning on her with terrifying clarity. “You destroyed him... because of what happened to me?”
“He raised a daughter who thought she could dispose of human beings like trash,” Roman said, standing up and offering her a hand. His palm was warm, calloused from decades of handling weapons and power, yet his grip was steady and gentle as he pulled her to her feet. “In my world, Nora, you protect what is yours. And you destroy anyone who threatens it.”
“I am not yours, Roman,” she whispered, though she didn't pull her hand away from his.
Roman stepped closer, closing the small distance between them until she could feel the heat radiating from his chest. His slate eyes locked onto hers, burning with an intensity that made the surrounding silence roar in her ears.
“You were mine the moment you stood in my kitchen and made chamomile tea for a man who didn't deserve it,” Roman said softly. “You just didn't know it yet.”
Before she could answer, the front door of the triplex flew open with a loud bang, and heavy footsteps echoed across the concrete floor.
May you like
“Roman!” a voice screamed—a voice frantic, unhinged, and reeking of expensive perfume and desperation.
Evelyn Sterling burst into the kitchen, her hair disheveled, her designer coat torn at the shoulder, and a small, snub-nosed revolver gripped clumsily in her right hand.
